In Search Of. . . Written Words

In Search Of. . . Written Words

As some of you may have noticed, I've taken up the "Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge"

You may ask, "Why?" To which I will reply, "Because I have no life."

Not really. Well kind of, but that's beside the point. I've taken up the challenge because it will keep me from obsessively reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. (Honestly, I read like twelve in the course of three weeks, and they aren't short books, either.)

Besides that, it's such a broad spectrum of books. The list includes nearly everything, from classic to modern literature; fiction to non-fiction; short stories, novellas, and novels. Which I think, as my teachers used to say, will broaden my horizons.

So far, I've already read 21 books from the list. Now I have 378 more to go.

I'll give you a brief idea of the first 11 of them.

1. 1984, George Orwell. Everyone should read this book. Orwell understood the Totalitarian regime and explains it clearly through this story. It is one of the few books that has stayed with me.

2. Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll. It's almost exactly like the Disney cartoon, just in black and white, and a few more scenes.

3. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath. It's actually her autobiography, but she didn't think it was of any literary worth, so she made it into a work of fiction. That was Plath though.

4. Devil in the White City: Murder, Madness, and Magic at the Fair that Change America, Eric Larson. Great book for non-fiction lovers, and fiction lovers. All the research is primary, and it gives so much information about the first World’s Fair and a notorious serial killer.

5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson. This is a novella. You can read it in a few hours. People say it's about the repression of the Victorian Era, but I think it's about man's struggle with himself.

6. Frankenstein, Marry Shelly. Is not a scary story; it just isn't. And the monster can talk, and Frankenstein’s really just a selfish jerk face. Not a horrible book though. It’s all about pushing boundaries and knowing our limits.

7. Gone With the Wind, Margret Mitchell. I never did like Scarlet, but this is one of the most accurate representations of the Civil War era.

8. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Another personal story turned fiction. There is no real reason to love this story, but I do. The color imagery is amazing

9. Great Expectation, Charles Dickens. If you like superfluity, this is the book for you.

10. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad. I never really could figure what this was about. Editions have a lot to do with. Maybe I'll re-read it one day. It describes exploration into Africa, slavery, and something else. Wasn't my favorite read.

11. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott. Jo didn't make any sense to me, but I guess that's because she's a girl. We don't make sense. I read this in high school for a literary analysis, so that might be coloring my opinion.

Those are the first 11 books, and maybe I'll do the next eleven or something like that.

As Always,